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The Senators won’t have Big Ben Bishop’s presence in the net before the end of the season.

Coach Paul MacLean confirmed Monday the club’s newly acquired backup will miss at least two weeks with what’s believed to be a groin injury he suffered Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bishop, who has a 3-2-2 record with a 2.40 GAA and .912 save percentage in nine games with Ottawa, won’t be ready before the start of the playoffs. Alex Auld backed up Craig Anderson Monday night against the Jets.

MacLean said he’s not sure if the club will recall Robin Lehner, but a decision doesn’t have to be made right away. The Senators don’t play again until Saturday, 1 p.m., in Philadelphia.

“We have three days to see how Ben recovers,” said MacLean. “We have four callups after the trade deadline and we’ve used two already, so we want to make sure we don’t use any more of them until we need to.”

The Senators are confident Anderson, back after being out for a month with a hand injury, can carry the load.

“(Anderson’s return is) good timing,” said captain Daniel Alfredsson. “You never want to see anybody getting hurt, but Andy coming back a few days before this happens ... it’s great, and he played really well when he came in against Pittsburgh (Saturday).

“We look forward to playing well in front of him. He’ll make the stops he should and he usually makes a few more. And we can provide some offence for him.”

STICKING TO IT

D Erik Karlsson, who broke approximately nine sticks in three games last week, is a little frustrated and has ordered a new batch from Easton. He brought some old sticks to use against the Jets. “It’s probably just bad luck and a bad batch. It happens sometimes ... hopefully they won’t break anymore,” said Karlsson. “I’ve still got to shoot the puck. If a stick breaks, it breaks. I’ll get mad for two minutes and get back at it again.” Karlsson said he does consider it a serious issue because breaking a stick at the wrong time can take away a scoring chance or cost the club a goal against if he’s caught in a bad position. “It sucks. Breaking sticks is never fun,” said Karlsson. “Especially when you’re taking a shot. There’s nothing I can do about it. I still have a lot of shots on goal.” At least he can still laugh about it. “I’ve been working out a lot this week,” said Karlsson with a smile. “I’m a little bit stronger.”

THIS ’N’ THAT

Former Senators coach Cory Clouston was spotted in the club’s hotel by broadcaster Jason York. Clouston’s Brandon Wheat Kings are in town for their WHL playoff series against the Calgary Hitmen. The Kings can’t use the Keystone Centre in Brandon for their whole first-round series against the Hitmen because of the Royal Winter Fair. The bus ride from Calgary to Winnipeg is a mere 15 hours. Sounds painful ... Nice to see MacLean not mess with a winning lineup. That meant D Matt Carkner and LW Kaspars Daugavins were in the lineup for a second straight game.

AROUND THE BOARDS

The Jets have utilized home-ice advantage, but they have a brutal 12-21-4 road record and that’s likely going to cost them a playoff spot. “At home, the fans have a lot to do with it,” said D Zach Bogosian. “It’s a tough place for opposing teams to come in and play. For whatever reason, we show a little more emotion at home. I don’t know if there’s really one reason you can pinpoint to say why we’re better at home than on the road. We’ve played good hockey on the road. It’s not like we’ve played all terrible games.” ... Jets coach Claude Noel botched LW Milan Michalek’s name so bad during his pre-game briefing words can’t begin to describe it.

MAKES YOU GO HMMM ...

Jets fans choose targets every game. On Monday, they were Alfredsson, Karlsson and Jason Spezza. “I’ve never been booed before ... it might be kind of nice,” said Karlsson before the game ... Noel wouldn’t have anything to do with talk the Jets must run the table to make the playoffs. “There’s no sense in making it a bigger mountain than it is for us,” said Noel. “I’m not going to try to sit there and be a mathematician saying, ‘If they win or if they lose and we win.’ There’s enough for me to do.” ... Gotta give linesman Thor Nelson credit. He took a shot from Jim Slater and got back up.

THE LAST WORD

Nice to be back in Winnipeg. All that was missing was the late John Ferguson Sr. giving me the usual tour. Next stop is Quebec City, we hope.